Police spray MCP supporters with hundreds of tears gas canisters at party headquarters

As President Peter Mutharika and vice president Everton Chimulirenji were taking oath of office in commercial city of Blantyre, in the capital Lilongwe dozens of anti-riot police officers were tear gassing opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) supporters at the party headquarters at city centre.

The party supporters were stoning vehicles and blocked the roads near the MCP headquarters.

The police acted swiftly by smoking them out of the party headquarters building which is next to the building of the US embassy.

But the party organizing secretary Khumbize Kandodo Banda said the party supporters had met at the MCP headquarters to make a post-mortem and strategise the way forward after the highly contentious tripartite elections.

“The police just fired teargas into the building without warning. They didn’t even have warrant, yet they invaded the party’s private property with violent acts.” she said.

“We don’t know why the police were chasing our youths who were simply going to fuel one of our lorries.”

The tear gassing left two party supporters seriously injured and forced the US embassy to close business an hour before time.

Party supporters gathered tears gas canisters which were used to give a count and found over 400 to have been used.

MCP party president Lazarus Chakwera went to address the supporters after the police had left and called for peace and calm.

Chakwera had obtained a temporary injunction at the weekend to halt the release of presidential election results over alleged vote-rigging, but it was later lifted by the courts.

The MCP president has not reacted to the official outcome.

The national police spokesperson James Kadadzera said: “There have been sporadic cases of violence in Lilongwe in the run-up and during the election period. And the police is trying to restore law and order, especially in hotspots.”

Human right activist Timothy Mtambo, executive director of Centre for Human Rights Rehabilitation (CHHR) has since condemned the police for what he termed “an act of violence and brutality.”

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